<p>My daughter was accepted in Appalachian State, Shennondoah U., Montclair State as her safetys. She is still awaiting decisions from James Madison, BOCO, Purchase, CCM, and U of the Arts. My questions at this point are many...what a roller coaster ride!!! If I had known then what I know now, things would be different. Economics are a factor, she is our third and last in college...at the same time!
The tuition at Appalachian State is alluring as is Mont Clair since we are from Jersey...but I know little about their music departments. I am more familar with Mont Clair, especially with their musical theater. Does anyone have experience with any of the above rmentioned colleges and if they could give us feedback, it would be appreciated.
She wants a school still set in a collegiate environment, which is why she chose not to go with the strict conservatories..whcich in retrospect might be a mistake. So far, her favorite, hands down is James Madison. It seems to offer everything she wants....except financial aid!
I am looking forward to any feedback. I am particularly interested in Appalachian State, Montclair and U of Arts.</p>
<p>Both my D and I have sung with Jeff Kern, the head of the voice department at UArts and he even provided her with a recommendation for Eastman. If your daughter is a classical singer, UArts is not the place for her. Per Jeff, they made the decision that, with Curtis, Temple, and West Chester in the area, the market for classical majors is well served locally and they only offer a voice major in Jazz.</p>
<p>I'll start by saying that my D is a vocal performance major at JMU. At least, she hopes she will be after her jury this spring. Technically, you don't become a VP major until after the jury. Feel free to PM with any specific questions about JMU. She has found it to be competitive without being cut throat. For 2008, they had 486 audition for 119 slots - across the entire music school - about 20% admission - and numbers for sopranos would be more competitive than that I would think. I don't have those exact numbers though. The top ensembles are very competitive, particularly for sopranos of course. My D looked at Appalachian State too, but decided to only apply to one school in NC and chose UNCG instead. We loved Boone - I would like to live there. The location is a challenge though - just not easily accessible. I am only 3 hrs from JMU and it has been great to be able to go to her performances. I have to say that I think of UArts for MT. I don't know any VP majors who went there. JMU knows it loses people every year because of finances. The downturn in the economy will affect its ability to address that, however. I think the new performing arts center will be a draw - it should be incredible - even with budget cuts.</p>
<p>Appalachian is a terrific undergraduate music school. There is at least one singer at the MET now who studied there (Lucas Meacham). The faculty gets along really well, it is a lovely environment, and the students are treated well. It is remote, but freshmen can have cars, just cannot park them on campus, but rather use a remote lot (I think this is still true.) Good luck to your daughter.</p>
<p>Dear Don 9992,
Thank you so much. I did not realize that U of Arts was only Jazz their website is very decieving. They say that they offer a variety of styles from Jazz, classical and theatrical. I am very disappointed.</p>
<p>She did not apply to Rutgers?</p>
<p>A very good friend of my sons from HS goes to Montclair and totally loves it. It wasn't his first choice...and not having gotten accepted to the schools he wanted to go to first, he took some time off then decided to go to Montclair. He is thriving there and the facilities are brand new. The access to Manhattan is about 20 minutes by train. Montclair itself is a great town! They have alot of visiting artists from NYC, etc. This young man is thrilled with his decision to go there, and has no regrets about the schools he thought he wanted to go to...His mind has completely been changed!! He also has had alot of performance opportunities in the area. </p>
<p>Its worth going to look at, and see what they offer your daughter:)</p>
<p>No, She did not like New Brunswick and thought Rutgers was overwhelming.</p>
<p>Jersey Babe: </p>
<p>When did she audition at BOCO? I was the there Feb. 14th! Maybe we saw each other? Haha.</p>
<p>Boone is beautiful and the students love it. It is hard to reach. Think about this though, It has a resort atmosphere with some of the best outdoor recreation you can imagine.
Apps buildings are beautiful and so are the mountains. The cost of living is low and the kids are very friendly. My daughter went to summer music camp and loved it but decided to persue musical theatre and so ruled out App State. It has a great hotel on campus for parents that is very reasonable.</p>
<p>Sopranos,</p>
<p>Where is everyone’s first choice school? Any exciting acceptances?</p>